Lawrie Hooper MHK said the government had intervened during the Covid pandemic by altering the agreement “in respect of the fuel surcharge to take account of things like the border closure, [and] the fluctuating international markets at the time”.
He questioned why similar steps were not being taken now to prevent bigger issues arising since feedback from firms was that the current situation was having an impact.
Thomas said the government “definitely have heard what the Chamber of Commerce said”.
However, he said the response to Covid was much broader and involved £100m being spent from of the National Insurance Fund.
That was followed by “at least £25m” of Manx Utilities reserves being used to freeze electricity bills in 2022-23 as the wholesale price of gas soared in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
“We have to remember that this crisis could be very different from the Covid crisis, it could be going on for much longer,” he said.
There were “all sorts of other responses as well as just using public funds to subsidise things now”, he said, adding that general subsidies “don’t necessarily achieve the purpose that we want to achieve” such as promoting energy efficiency.